Chief: Witnesses wanted

Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot appealed to the public to take on the role of witness when they see a crime and, in particular, a traffic wreck.
“Think about it,” he said at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen’s meeting. “If you are involved in an accident and the other driver was saying something completely in opposition than what you were wanting, you would love to have that witness come in to be the savior of your day for that.”
Witnesses are needed for investigations and, if necessary, in court, he said.
But it was traffic accidents that Fontenot focused on in his discussion about witnesses.
“A lot of people witness every accident that we have in town, but nobody stops to offer that information about what they’ve seen to the investigating officer,” he said.
“What may seem like an open and shut case to anybody passing by, but when an officer starts looking and he is getting conflicting statements ... we have to try to make a determination based on the evidence ...” Fontenot said.
Most people will not stop because they don’t want to testify in court, but Fontenot said that rarely happens.
A competent witness likely will keep a case out of court, he said.
“I’ve worked a lot of accidents in my time as a police officer with our police department,” he said. “I’ve actually had to testify only one time over all those years on an accident case.”
Fontenot said, “Help the person who is not at fault get the treatment he deserves and compensation he deserves to get his damage repaired.”
Police officers are instructed to take statements as soon as possible from witnesses, he said.